Project Panda, a research partnership started in 2009 between Yingli Green Energy Holding, the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN) and Amtech Systems’ solar division Tempress Systems, revealed that its N-type Metal Wrap Through (N-MWT) PV cell and module technology had reached a cell efficiency of 19.7% and a module efficiency of 17.6%.
The companies maintain that the N-MWT PV cell technology could reduce up to 40% of the metal coverage, compared to standard crystalline cells, and lead to nearly a 1.5% relative cell efficiency gain. Furthermore, ECN noted that it had demonstrated that the PV modules based off N-MWT technology could be made with thin cells at a high yield. This possibility carries the potential to diminish wafer thickness and silicon consumption, which would in turn create a cost reduction.
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Jingfeng Xiong, VP of technology for Yingli Green Energy, commented, “We are pleased to announce the new milestones of Project Panda, which demonstrates our solid cooperation with leading technology institutes in solar industry. Together this joint project, we target to reach towards 20% cell efficiency and module efficiencies of 18% and more. The launch of N-MWT PV cell and module illustrates our mission to be a cost leader and provide the best product to customers at the same time.”
